JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND

When users are immersed in a VR experience, they may feel as if it is ‘real’ and they may no longer be aware that there is technology involved. However, this may also cause them to be extra alert of elements within the experience that do not match with their perceived sense of reality. In this workshop we will discuss a number of concepts that are related to this ‘illusion of non-mediation’ (Lombard and Ditton, 1997), and how they may elicit narrative engagement.

Interaction. An interesting feature of 360° VR is the implementation of interactive moments that can be triggered when users fix their gaze on so-called ‘hot-spots’ (Vosmeer and Schouten, 2014). A hot-spot can be compared to an HTML link, that can be clicked to activate the next part of the scene.

Acknowledgement. When it comes to user position in VR, Bucher (2017) states that there are currently two approaches; one is the approach in which the viewer is a ‘ghost’ in the scene, who is just observing the events that are occurring. This connects closely to the traditional viewer position in television and cinema, for which the term ‘fly on the wall’ is used. In the second position, the viewer can be the protagonist of the scene and the characters that inhabit the virtual world seem to be aware of the viewers existence. They can talk to the camera, point at the camera or in other ways acknowledge that ‘you’ are present. The concept of parasocial interaction refers to audience members interacting with media personae as they would in face-to-face interactions (Konijn and Hoorn, 2017). There has been no systematic research published yet that explores the concept of parasocial relations with media characters in cinematic VR, and in this workshop we will discuss this concept to further explore its implications.

1. Bucher, J.: Storytelling for Virtual Reality: Methods and Principles for Crafting Immersive Narratives. Focal Press (2017).
2. Forcefield. Meeting Rembrandt. Oculus Store app. Accessed July 2019. (2017)
3. Konijn, E.A., Hoorn, J.F.: Parasocial Interaction and Beyond: Media Personae and Affective Bonding, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314711658_Parasocial_Interaction_and_Beyond_Media_Personae_and_Affective_Bonding.
4. Lombard, M., Ditton, T.: At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence. J Comput Mediat Commun. 3, (1997). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00072.x.
5. Vosmeer, M., & Schouten, B. Interactive cinema: engagement and interaction. In International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Springer, Cham. 140-147 (2014).